Kidd is averaging 33.4 minutes a game this season, down from 36.0 last year. Doesn't sound like much? Consider that an additional 2.6 minutes a game of bench time adds up to 182 minutes of additional rest through 70 games. Kidd and Jason Terry are the only Mavs to play in every game this season.

A year ago, Kidd was run ragged in the final month-and-a-half. In March, Kidd played in 14 of 15 games and he logged at least 37 minutes 10 times and averaged 36.6 minutes for the month.

On his 37th birthday, he scored 26 points with six 3-pointers in 41 minutes to get a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

He took one game off last season on March 3, a 112-109 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas' opponent on Thursday at the American Airlines Center. Could Kidd get a belated birthday present with another night off against the last-place Wolves?

He might not need it. Through 11 games in March, he has averaged 33.2 minutes a game. Twice he's hit 37 minutes, but no higher. Kidd hasn't played more than 37 minutes since going 42 in Phoenix on Feb. 17, the final game before the All-Star break.

Still, Kidd, averaging 8.1 points, 8.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds, and Mavs coach Rick Carlisle have discussed ways to ensure that the 17-year point guard is better rested this season than he was heading into the 2010 postseason.

"We’ve got one of the most unique guys that ever played and he’s got a really good feel for what works for him," Carlisle said. "He did a lot of stuff in practice [Tuesday] and I think he’ll do some stuff [today], but in terms of how much to rest him and how much to have him do in practice, a lot of that is his call, our trainer's call. We try to communicate with Jason, but he’s always ready."

Picking and choosing a game or game to take off in the final 12 games can be tricky, at least at the moment. The Mavs are still battling the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 2 seed. It's an important position because the two-seed will gain homecourt advantage in a potential semifinal series between the teams.

Former Dallas Mavericks great Mark Aguirre collapsed while working out at a fitness center near Plano, Texas, on Wednesday and was rushed to a hospital.

Mavericks officials were slowly getting information as the team's practice was winding down Wednesday afternoon. One front-office employee received a text message that Aguirre is OK but did not have further details.

Aguirre played 7½ seasons with the Mavericks in the 1980s and still holds the team single-season scoring record in 1983-84 season. He helped lead the franchise to its first Western Conference finals in 1988. He later won two championships with the Detroit Pistons.

Aguirre took DePaul University to the Final Four in 1979 as a freshman. When the Blue Demons had a coaching vacancy last year, he expressed interest in the job.

He has also been an assistant coach with the Knicks and Pacers.

Follow Jeff Caplan on Twitter: @espn_caplan

__________________

"Dirk Nowitzki is now a household name in every locker room in this world.
You say it in Brazil, you say Dirk, they know Nowitzki. You say it in China,
they know Nowitzki. Kobe, Michael, DIRK." - Jeff Van Gundy

"Dirk Nowitzki is now a household name in every locker room in this world.
You say it in Brazil, you say Dirk, they know Nowitzki. You say it in China,
they know Nowitzki. Kobe, Michael, DIRK." - Jeff Van Gundy

Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks participated in day two of their extensive practice week as they prepared for the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, and their longest road trip of the season that starts Saturday in Utah. Rick Carlisle said that the road trip will take them through the "wild blue yonder." First, they will have to play the Timberwolves and they will have to prepare for a new-look team as Kevin Love will not travel with the team on their two-game road trip. Love has been dealing a groin injury and it was too much to deal with so he decided to stay in Minnesota and continue receiving treatment. Carlisle did not know Love's status as practice ended, but he knew that the Wolves would still be ready if their All-Star was unable to play. "They’ll have another high energy player running around." According to the Timberlwolves, they will start Anthony Randolph in Love's place, but they will also have players like Anthony Tolliver and Michael Beasley who can play the small forward position. "They’ll be hard to guard because they’re smaller," Carlisle said when assessing Minnesota if they did not have Love in the lineup.

In this NBA.com StatsCube study, StatsCube takes a look at candidates for the Most Improved Player award.

Voting for the Most Improved Player award is usually wide open. There are always a lot of players who have better seasons than their previous year, and it's up to the voters to determine which one improved to the greatest degree. Last year, 30 different players, including 14-year veteran Ben Wallace, received first-, second- or third-place votes for the award, evidence that among the voters, there are a lot of different criteria.

There are different steps that players take from year to year. Second-year players evolve from non-rotation rookies to contributors. Contributors turn into starters. Starters turn into stars. Stars turn into All-Stars. And All-Stars turn into MVP candidates.

Which step is the biggest or most important? Well, somehow Kevin Durant went from non-All-Star to MVP candidate last year, and that earned him only 17 of a possible 123 first-place votes. As it turned out, Aaron Brooks' numbers jump was more convincing, even though Durant's improvement was the main reason for the Thunder winning 27 games more than they had the season before.

Brooks' scoring average increased by 8.4 points per game last season. This year, when it comes to putting points on the board, no one has been more improved than the Warriors' Dorell Wright.

Of course, there's more to the game than scoring. And when we look at the efficiency stat, which adds up all positive numbers and subtracts the negative, only four of the players above remain in the top 10.

Love obviously has had a huge season statistically, but there is a pace factor to his numbers. The Timberwolves lead the league in pace, averaging 99.5 possessions per 48 minutes. Last year, they ranked third (98.5), so his "improvement" is only slightly aided by pace.

Still, when you adjust for pace, Love moves down a spot in the improvement rankings. The top 10 is the same group of players, but we see that the raw improvement of Love, Wright, Young and McGee has been given a boost by the pace at which their teams play.

Now, Augustin's improvement is a lot about opportunity. With Raymond Felton leaving Charlotte via free agency, Augustin is averaging almost twice as many minutes this season (33.4) as he did last season (18.4). But he's still become a better player. If we look at efficiency improvement on a per-minute basis, Augustin is still in the top 10, with Chandler and Humphries also remaining on the list.

This list better represents the players who have improved their games, and whose jump in numbers isn't just about increased minutes. Kevin Love ranks 12th by this criteria at +4.1, while MVP candidate Derrick Rose ranks 11th at +4.4.

Individual stats are nice and all. But they don't mean much unless they're helping win games. Augustin, Love, Humphries and Wright all play for teams at least 12 games under .500. Coming off the bench, Augustin was a plus-10 for the Bobcats last season (+0.2 per 100 possessions), and he's a minus-230 this year (-5.1 per 100 possessions).

It would be tough to give an award to Augustin when the scoreboard has been going in the wrong direction when he's in the game. The Bobcats have been a better team with Augustin on the bench than with him on the floor. And if you consider team success when determining All-Stars and MVP candidates, surely it has to play a role in Most Improved Player voting.

The easiest way to determine team success is to look at the standings. But when evaluating individual players, how well their team performs when they're on the floor must be considered. And when we look at improvement in on-court team stats, we get a much different list.

-Minumum 1,000 minutes played this season and 500 last season
-Efficiency differential =
Own teams points per 100 possessions - Opponents points per 100 possessions

Humphries ranks 67th by this criteria at +3.1, while Love ranks 86th at +1.9. While they both play for bad teams, their improvement has helped their squads get a little bit better.

It takes more than individual improvement to make it to the top of this list though. Good teammates help. Ranking second in the league in usage rate, Rose obviously has more of an impact in his team's success than the other nine, but Chandler has also clearly made a difference in Dallas.

And Chandler is the only guy on each of the last three lists. His per-game numbers have improved dramatically, his per-minute numbers have made a jump, and he's contributing more to his team's success than he did last season.

Chandler's 2009-10 season in Charlotte was a drop-off from his best seasons with the Hornets. His efficiency per 40 minutes is a career best this season, but his efficiency per game was better in 2006-07 and 2007-08. So again, it's up to the voters to determine if his increased numbers are truly about "improvement" or if he's just returning to form after two injury-riddled seasons. It's probably a little of both.

If you're looking at raw stats to determine the league's Most Improved Player, it's hard to look past Kevin Love. But if you look deeper into the numbers, you have to consider guys like Chandler, Holiday and even Rose, who in making the leap from All-Star to MVP candidate, has taken his team with him.

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

With the 104-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, the Dallas Mavericks reached the 50-win plateau for the 11th straight season. "That's very impressive for a franchise to be able to do that,'' said Jason Kidd. "That just shows that the owner and management have something special here.'' The Mavericks are just the third franchise (since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule in 1967) to record at least 11 consecutive seasons with at least 50 wins (also the San Antonio Spurs from 1999-present, the Los Angeles Lakers from 1979-1991).

The thing that separates those clubs from the Mavs is the fact that those franchises have multiple championships to speak of during their successful regular seasons. Dallas remembers the painful memory in 2006 where they lost a 2-0 lead to the Miami Heat. To date, the appearance in the 2005-06 NBA Finals has been the only Finals appearance for the Mavericks.

Would I trade 11-straight 50-win seasons for one ring? Sure, but that's not a realistic option... What IS a realistic option, though, is having to suffer through the awfulness of the 90's Mavs again (like so many mediocre franchises are doing right now...)

As a fan, I'll take 11x50, thanks!

__________________
“It’s the Dirk Nowitzki effect on their offense. As a defense, you absolutely overreact to every situation he’s
in -- or even that he’s not in -- and then you lose all sight of your team defensive rules." --Erik Spoelstra

Hmm would I trade 11 straight winning seasons for one championship and 10 seasons where they stunk. Not so sure to be honest.

__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’

The Dallas Mavericks hit the practice court one more time before going out on the road for their six-game West Coast trip. The Mavericks PR staff noted that this trip is the longest road trip for the team since Mar. 2007 when they went on the road to face the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. The Mavericks finished that trip 6-0 and their average margin of victory was 10.7 points. Dallas is looking to find their groove after going a pedestrian 5-5 over their last 10 games.

The latest game saw the Mavericks having to scratch and claw to outlast the Minnesota Timberwolves without their All-Star forward Kevin Love. It was apparent within the first few minutes of the game that the Mavericks did not have their antennas set for the game against the Wolves. Whether they were looking at the upcoming road trip or in a comfort zone after the three days between games, the Mavericks were not focused and it almost led to them receiving a painful loss. "Some nights you're going to struggle," coach Rick Carlisle said. "In those situations, you have to take your medicine, own it if you're not playing well and work to get better." With that specific game, the recent stretch of games and the recent playoff history, fans have become doubtful when they try to assess the chances the Mavericks have in the playoffs.

By now, we're all familiar with the story: In 1994, an alien spacecraft lands in a minor league ballpark in rural Alabama, delivering Birmingham Barons outfielder Michael Jordan just in time for the first pitch. Though team officials are initially upset about the booster-jet inflicted damage to the field, their shock melts away when the magnitude of what Jordan accomplished during his brief disappearance becomes apparent — the salvation of the Looney Tunes universe via basketball game, as documented in the 1996 film Space Jam.

Our concern here is with the game itself, which pitted Jordan and his cartoon friends against a team of alien invaders who'd stolen the abilities of Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, and — don't ask me why — Shawn Bradley. Freedom was on the line. A Monstars victory would mean a life of servitude for the Tunes in Moron Mountain, the theme park on the Monstars' home planet.

You can watch every possession in the video above; the box score is below. A quick recap: The Monstars, behind a vicious defense and a quick-strike transition offense featuring the unprecedented three-point-line dunk, seize early control and take a 66-18 lead into the half. Pound (Barkley) and Bupkus (Ewing) are dominant. Things look grim for MJ, Bugs, and crew.

But the Tunes uncork a 48-2 run in the second half to pull within two points late in the fourth quarter. The dearth of offensive production by the Monstars during this stretch is puzzling. Turnovers? Did they abandon the three-point-line dunk? The answer no doubt lies on the cutting-room floor. There's an equally confusing run at the end of the game. As paramedics inflate Jordan's assistant Stan Podolak following his lone bucket, the scoreboard clearly shows the Monstars ahead 77-67 with 10 seconds remaining. Yet following his treatment and the surprise entrance of Bill Murray, the score has changed to 77-76 with no time having elapsed. Perhaps Marvin the Martian, the head official, got fed up with the Monstars' rugged defense—they injured all but four of the players on the original Tunes roster—and issued a slew of technical fouls. We'll never know. All we know is that the game ends on Jordan's dramatic, half-court arm-stretching dunk as time expires. How about that: The team with the widest appeal and most marketable superstar wins the big game by some mysterious contrivance. You might say this is ridiculous. I call it verisimilitude.

• Tunes scored 132 points per 100 possessions. The Monstars scored 154. That's obviously impossible, since the team with the higher offensive efficiency is pretty much by definition the team that wins the game. The issue is selection bias — we see more successful Monstars' possessions in the movie. The other issue is that the movie doesn't make any sense.

• Jordan's usage rate is 44 percent, meaning he used 44 percent of his team's possessions. For comparison's sake, the NBA single-season record is Kobe's 39 percent in 2006. MJ is second at 38 percent. There were plenty of games in which Jordan actually exceeded that 44 percent usage rate. In Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, for instance, he checked in at 55 percent. This is probably the second-most realistic part of the movie.

• Both teams shot an extraordinary percentage from the field, due in large part to the vast majority of field goals scored by dunk. In fact, only one field goal was missed during the action in the film — Bupkus was thwarted by the initiative of one Wile E. Coyote and his timely detonation of a small cache of explosives strategically placed around the hoop.

• Michael Jordan and Stan Podolak were the only two players to record a non-dunk field goal attempt, Podolak's coming after being dog-piled and smashed to the ground by the Monstar team. The ball squirted out and found its way into the hoop; inexplicably, he did not draw a foul.

• No rebounds were recorded in the game by either team, a testament to the high levels of offensive efficiency on both sides.

• Marvin the Martian exhibited little control over the proceedings, whistling no personal fouls on either team. It's unclear whether his extraterrestrial origins biased him in favor of the alien visitors, looking the other way as the Tunes players were flattened, stomped, and dismembered, but the non-calls appeared to even out in the end (viz., dynamite).

• Bill Murray, Club Trillion member.

• Blanko, the Shawn Bradley Monstar, failed to register a single stat throughout the course of the game. Even in a world where Elmer Fudd has a 40-inch vertical, Bradley's "talent" can't muster even a shot attempt. This is the most realistic aspect of the movie.

FATALLY FLAWED10. Dallas Mavericks
If players were forced to argue their own MVP cases, here's what I would write for Dirk to say (add your own German hip-hop accent):

"Um, have you ever watched us? We were playing three-on-five offensively in crunch-time when Caron Butler was healthy. In every close game, we run every play for me. No, really. Watch us some time. According to 82games.com, I'm the league's best clutch scorer: in crunch-time, I make 49.5 percent of my field goals, get to the line more than anyone else and make 89 percent of my free throws. I have chunks of Kobe's crunch-time prowess in my stool. And that's playing with Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion (who couldn't create shots for themselves if they were posting up Yi Jianlian's old chair from the 2007 draft) and Jason Kidd, who's only been decomposing since the All-Star Break. When I got injured in December, we went 2-8 while I was out, then 1-2 as I eased my way back into shape. We're 50-15 when I'm healthy even though Jason Terry is my second-best teammate -- he'd be the fifth-best Bull, fifth-best Celtic, sixth-best Laker and the fifth-best Blazer (a team that we're playing in Round 1).

"I thought for sure we'd make a deadline deal to help me. We didn't have much to trade because everyone on our team is between two and 12 years past his prime except Roddy Beaubois. Our front office decided Roddy was untradeable, which sounded good on paper when he was injured, but then he came back and started playing, and now it's just plain awkward. So far he's looked like either a poor man's Tony Parker or a homeless man's Tony Parker. The Dallas employee who decided Roddy was untradeable must have been the same guy who guaranteed those 1,400 temporary seats would be done for Super Bowl XLV. To be honest, I have no idea how we ended up with a 3-seed. We're going to lose in Round 1 or Round 2. Crap. Anyway, um ... vote for Dirk for MVP!"

(...)

PS:
I wasn't a hundred percent sure where to post this, so i kinda reactivated this thread. (So feel free to move or delete this post @mods)

As MacMahon stated it's "odd." Mavs are 2-0 in this series with Terry only taking 1 shot in the 4th. And they are 0-2 with him taking 9 combined shots in the 4th. Sounds rude, but if Terry takes away shots from other players in the playoffs (mainly Dirk) Mavs likely won't win ...

Wasn't sure where to put this but I had a minature stroke when I read it:

Quote:

Shams (Portland)
Could the answer for Portland be not putting ridiculous lineups in? Nate ended the game half way through the second when he put in Aldridge with all small players. That is why the Blazers got killed on the boards. He played Roy way to long - he couldn't defend and he killed the offence. Also Nate tried Camby and Johnson for a few minutes and it was great but never went back to it. Thanks - trying to find hope.

John Hollinger (4:09 PM)
They basically have eight usable players. Nine with Johnson. So there aren't a ton of combinations available. After what happened in Game 4, he had to give Roy some run, and I don't think a Camby-Johnson combo can work for long unless they give out bonus points for a low body-mass index. And as for Aldridge and the smalls -- that's been Portland's most effective look all season. The Blazers' problem isn't coaching, it's that the other team is better than they are.

__________________
“They gotta come through Texas first. We’ll see what happens. I’m still mad about the ’06 Finals. LeBron just walked into a fire he doesn’t know about.” - JET (said at the beginning of the '10-'11 season)

Last edited by bobbyfg7; 04-27-2011 at 03:24 PM.
Reason: I made it better, faster, stronger

"Dirk Nowitzki is now a household name in every locker room in this world.
You say it in Brazil, you say Dirk, they know Nowitzki. You say it in China,
they know Nowitzki. Kobe, Michael, DIRK." - Jeff Van Gundy

Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey will receive two of the first interviews that the Golden State Warriors conduct in their search to replace Keith Smart, according to sources close to the process.

Brown, an ESPN NBA analyst, and the Warriors have registered mutual interest in discussing the job since Smart's dismissal on April 27 and are expected to meet formally soon, sources said.

The Warriors, sources said, have also requested and received permission from the Mavericks to interview Casey, with an interview expected to take place before Dallas begins its Western Conference finals series against either Oklahoma City or Memphis, which will start Sunday at the earliest.

It's believed that the Warriors also have strong interest in Boston Celtics assistant coach Lawrence Frank. ESPN.com reported Friday that Frank and Casey have emerged as two of the Houston Rockets' most serious candidates, with multiple media outlets reporting that TNT's Kevin McHale is also a Rockets finalist.

But Warriors officials have also spoken of their desire to take their time with the search to interview several candidates, not unlike the Rockets' approach in their search to replace Rick Adelman.

NBA coaching sources say that the Warriors also do intend to reach out to coaching veterans Jeff Van Gundy (also an ESPN NBA analyst) and Jerry Sloan to gauge their interest in succeeding Smart, but it is not immediately known if those conversations will progress to the interview stage.

Warriors general manager Larry Riley has said little publicly about the search but has not ruled out the possibility that the team would make a hire before the June 23rd NBA draft.

Brown, the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, coached the Cavaliers for five seasons and posted a record of 272-138 before his dismissal after last season's second-round loss to the Celtics.

The 54-year-old Casey has been waiting for second shot at a top job since being dismissed by the Minnesota Timberwolves with a record of 20-20 during the 2006-07 season. He narrowly missed out on coaching jobs last summer with the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers and could see his chances in Houston boosted by his association with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who is highly regarded by the Rockets. Casey has been working largely as the Mavericks' defensive coordinator since coming to Dallas with Carlisle starting with the 2008-09 season.

Smart took over shortly before last season and posted a 36-46 record after Don Nelson was informed by new owner Joe Lacob and Riley in September that he would not be retained. The Warriors are thus looking for their third coach in three seasons, which prompted Riley to say "some stability once we make the next selection" is high on Golden State's list of goals.

Foreman signed the former Utah Jazz trio of Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver, among others, to surround league MVP Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.

Riles, of course, took the wrecking ball to that efficiency apartment of a roster and went ocean-side condo, re-signing Dwyane Wade and luring LeBron James' considerable talents to South Beach. There's that other cat, too, the tall one from Dallas via Toronto.

Other suits on the front-office honor roll included the Bulls' John Paxson, San Antonio's R.C. Buford, Oklahoma City's Sam Presti, New Jersey's Billy King and New York's Donnie Walsh.

Donnie Nelson, anyone?

Locally, the Dallas Mavericks' president of basketball operations is at times a fan punching bag because he (and intimately involved owner Mark Cuban) has failed to put the pieces together for a championship despite 11 consecutive seasons of 50-plus wins.

Yet, fresh off a sweep of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and awaiting an opponent in the Western Conference finals, Nelson's patience plus several quiet, but calculated yet effective moves for overlooked veteran pieces must be counted and acknowledged.

When Caron Butler went down with a blown-out knee on Jan. 1, Mavs fans instantly called for a major trade. It didn't happen. When a deadline deal for Stephen Jackson or Gerald Wallace or Tayshaun Prince failed to materialize, Mavs fans, perhaps just accustomed to a blockbuster, were appalled.

"This franchise has always been opportunistic and they've had a knack of making the big splash," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "But this time around, the subtlety with which they've moved is more significant."

Not unlike Mark Cuban's strange postseason silence. What is going on here?

"There's multiple things," Carlisle said. "There's the Tyson [Chandler] acquisition, which has been major to our level of play this year, and then [Peja] Stojakovic was a great move and it didn't compromise the future in any way in terms of flexibility."

Carlisle continued: "And the [Corey] Brewer situation. We said if that acquisition leads to a situation where it helps us win one game at the right time, it will have been more than worth it. What he did in Game 1 in L.A. was critical to our success to this point."

Ironically, the Mavs embarked on last summer's ballyhooed free-agency period wide-eyed and wielding the $13 million Erick Dampier trade chip. Cuban was flanked in L.A. to engage free agents there -- or to appear on the HBO hit show Entourage.

Jason Kidd was said to be anchoring New York City to sweet talk the guys there -- or actually was just headed to The Hamptons with his fiancee for July 4 fireworks.

Anyway, hopes were high that the Mavs would finally land that elusive second stud -- even if it meant Joe Johnson and not LeBron or D-Wade -- to play with Dirk Nowitzki, who, after a strange "Where's Waldo" routine -- Germany, NYC, Dallas? -- re-signed with the franchise in which he still trusts.

With nothing doing two weeks into July, the Mavs announced that they had cashed in the Dampier chip for Charlotte's injury-plagued Chandler. No one batted an eye. Nelson explained it as a move designed to counter the Los Angeles Lakers' front line in a playoff series. Media members tried not to laugh.

Now into the second week of May, the Mavs have dispatched the Lakers, and Chandler is second team All-Defense and was third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Nelson took a chance on the injured Stojakovic, traded early in the season from New Orleans to Toronto and set free by the Raptors. Stojakovic was intrigued after Cuban and then Nelson made earlier overtures to his agent.

"Donnie and Mark did a great job of smelling out the Stojakovic situation as one that could come to fruition quickly if they moved on it the right way," Carlisle said.

Dallas patiently held Stojakovic and his sore knee out two weeks and have gone on to reap the rewards. He first tied his playoff career-high for 3-pointers during the Portland series and then surpassed it in Sunday's series-clinching 3-for-all that ousted the Lakers.

"I'm a big believer in guys that have huge hearts," Nelson said. "Peja is a guy that is one of those guys that for years has been doing it a high level. We knew that his injury was something that if treated right that we could get under control, and that that was a playoff move."

Brewer, surprisingly released by the New York Knicks after being traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the massive Carmelo Anthony transaction, played 8 1/2 remarkable minutes in Game 1 in L.A. that might go down as not only saving the opener, but altering the series.

Even the midseason plugging of Sasha Pavlovic into the starting lineup from off the street paid off. Pavlovic played so well over two 10-day contracts that the team gave him a standing ovation as they showed him the door in the name of roster flexibility.

Then came Peja. Then came Corey.

And Donnie -- who never wears a suit and has never been exec of the year -- never takes credit.

"We're not a perfect team," Nelson said. "In a lot of respects, we've got a lot of guys that teams have given up on for whatever reason. It's almost like the island of misfit toys. Jason Kidd was too old, Dirk was the star who really is not a star, and you go right down the line. Tyson Chandler, nobody wanted to deal with his injury situation. Peja Stojakovic is a castoff.

"It's almost like we're this band of pieces that are fitting well and it's really fun to be around."

.

__________________
“It’s the Dirk Nowitzki effect on their offense. As a defense, you absolutely overreact to every situation he’s
in -- or even that he’s not in -- and then you lose all sight of your team defensive rules." --Erik Spoelstra